Scotland’s Council Leaders have written to the First Minister expressing their collective deep concern about the impacts of the financial settlement that Scottish Government has proposed for Local Government as part of this year’s Scottish Budget.
At a special meeting of Leaders on Monday 16th December, it was unanimously agreed that the budget settlement as it stands means another real terms cut to Councils’ core funding, at a time when many in our communities are struggling with the impact of rocketing prices across fuel, food and other bills, and facing unprecedented levels of poverty in a modern era, in an era where Local Government continues to provide the targeted and ongoing support deemed so vital to those most in need.
Council Leaders feel that this budget settlement will have a detrimental impact on vital local services, on our ability to focus the necessary resources and supports to our communities and on those who are already impacted by this cost-of-living crisis.
Leaders added that significantly, it will lead to the loss of jobs, both within Local Authorities and within the local companies who supply goods and services to councils and are reliant on their contracts to employ local people.
In the letter Leaders did acknowledge the impact of inflation, the UK Government’s mini-budget and global economic factors that are continuing to weigh heavily on the Scottish Government’s budgets and spending plans.
Given the pressures facing Councils, Leaders are keen this year to meet with Ministers so they can hear concerns first-hand, look at possible solutions and to work collaboratively with Government to enable Local Government to continue to deliver vital services to our communities.
Stockbridge charity urgently needs funds to keep people warm and well this winter
LifeCare Edinburgh has launched an urgent appeal to raise vital funds to support older people living across the city this winter. The renowned charity, which turned 80 last year, provides positive care for hundreds of local people but is struggling to cope with the increasing demand for its services.
LifeCare’s personal and practical services include registered outreach and day-clubs, help at home, meals on wheels, unpaid carers support, and companionship activities.
The charity runs a busy community hub and café on Cheyne Street in Stockbridge with all profits going directly to the running of its services. Through its relationship-based approach the charity supports those living with dementia, isolation, reduced mobilities, mental health concerns, and those struggling on low-incomes.
With over 85% of clients living alone, services enable each older person to live well and independently in their own homes for as long as possible.
Through the ‘Winter Warmer’ campaign LifeCare will extend its services this winter. This will include setting up their community café as a welcoming ‘warm space’ offering free warmth, hot food, companionship, and activities to those that need it across weekends, but the charity needs support to offer this care.
The organisation is calling on everyone, from individuals to local businesses, to join their appeal and give a donation to help deliver care to those that need it most this winter.
James Wells, Chief Executive of LifeCare said: “We are extremely worried about those in our community. The cold, dark months are always difficult, and this year, with rising food and fuel costs, it will be devastating for many.
“Older people are still coming to terms with the aftermath of the covid restrictions; abilities and mobility deteriorated rapidly and enquiries for our help are rising, up 250% in some services.
“Now hit by the cost-of-living crisis these same people, who are just regaining the confidence and motivation to get back to their communities, can’t afford to take part in activities or meet friends for food/drink. On top of the ‘heat or eat’ dilemma they face this winter they are also at risk of serious social isolation.
“LifeCare has a long history of supporting and empowering older people to live life to the full, but as a charity we rely on donations to enable us to deliver our lifesaving and life-affirming services.
” Thanks to our care, we will ensure that each older person receives the support they need. We will make sure they are warm in their homes, they eat well, have company to look forward to and are able to get out and about to activities safely.
“We are asking local people and businesses to consider giving a one-off or regular gift to our Winter Warmer appeal. With support, LifeCare can deliver the positive care older people need to ensure they keep warm and well in body and mind.
“There are different ways people can help support. One-off and regular donations can be made on our website or alternatively people can come along to our community café to pledge their support. Even choosing to have your coffee or lunch from our café will help us to deliver the care local older people need.”
With Scottish Housing Day (14 September 2022) focusing on sustainable housing, the Alliance of Registered Co-operatives and Housing Associations, Independent in Edinburgh (ARCHIE) is working collaboratively to address the challenges around decarbonisation and energy efficiency and provide advice on how tenants can live sustainable lives, from energy saving tips to financial support.
Past ARCHIE successes include joint ventures such as distributing energy saving packs to tenants and energy use advice. One of the most successful projects is the provision of Tenant Advice Services, which includes money, debt, benefits and tenancy sustainment advice.
Through sharing services and collaborating on joint activities ARCHIE members provide value for money and keep rents affordable.
The ARCHIE members are Lister Housing Co-operative, Manor Estates Housing Association, Muirhouse Housing Association, Port of Leith Housing Association (PoLHA), Prospect Community Housing, Viewpoint Housing Association and West Granton Housing Co-operative.
Larke Adger, Chair of ARCHIE and Chief Executive, West Granton Housing Co-op commented: “Through collaborative working, we have achieved better services and support for tenants across all ARCHIE member organisations.
“We look forward to continuing to build on this work to help create thriving, sustainable communities.”
Please remember that clinics, GP practices and many community pharmacies won’t be available on Good Friday or Easter Monday so try to collect prescriptions before Friday.
If you need urgent medical care over the weekend, please contact NHS 24 on 111 or visit NHS inform.
Drug and alcohol services in Scotland are complex and a clear plan is needed to improve people’s lives and increase transparency around spending, says public spending watchdog Audit Scotland.
Drug-related deaths have been rising steeply since 2013. A record 1,339 people lost their lives to drugs in 2020 – the highest rate in Europe. Alcohol deaths have been decreasing since the early 2000s, but rose by 16 per cent in 2020, when there were 1,190 deaths.
Alcohol and drug partnerships (ADPs) are charged with helping people at the local level. But how services are delivered remains complicated and lines of accountability are not always clear.
Overall funding for ADPs fell over the last few years before returning to 2015 levels by April 2021, but with no real terms increase. The Scottish Government has also provided additional investment for new initiatives, including a drug deaths taskforce and new evidence-based treatments and standards. But it is too early to gauge their effectiveness.
Spending remains difficult to track, including how money is distributed and what it is achieving. For example, in September 2021 the Scottish Government committed to invest £250m to reduce drug deaths – £50m for the next five years.
But details of how much of the £50m will be spent on each local area, or how the funding will be distributed, have not been published. More widely, data gaps around drug and alcohol referrals, waiting times and outcomes persist. And there is a considerable time lag in public reporting.
Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “We’ve recently seen more drive and leadership around drug and alcohol misuse from the Scottish Government. But it’s still hard to see what impact policy is having on people living in the most deprived areas, where long-standing inequalities remain.
“Drug and alcohol data is not good enough, and there is a lack of transparency about how money is being spent and allocated. The Scottish Government needs to set out an integrated plan, with clear measures showing how extra spending is being used to reduce the tragic loss of life we’ve seen over the last decade.”
William Moyes, Chair of the Accounts Commission, said: “Delivery of drug and alcohol services in Scotland is complex and difficult to navigate, with many organisations working across different sectors. What we need to see now is clearer accountability across all partners.
“In the longer term, more focus is needed on the root causes of drug and alcohol dependency and breaking the cycle of harm stretching down generations and across communities.”
Medium- to long-term ambitions to create new jobs (47%), set up new products and services (36%) and increase online sales (30%)
83% of firms expect the next 20 years to be more challenging than the previous two decades
Businesses call for government to encourage sustainable practices through tax changes
Almost half (47%) of UK businesses said taking on new staff is their key ambition in the medium-term, according to new research to mark the 20th anniversary of Bank of Scotland Business Barometer.
The survey asked 600 businesses about the major challenges and opportunities faced in the last two decades and anticipated challenges up to 2040 and beyond.
Companies also highlighted developing new products and services (36%) and increasing online sales (30%) as major ambitions and priorities.
The survey found that businesses expect online purchasing (20%) and demand for instant products and services (18%) to be the biggest changes in consumer behaviour in the next 20 years, forcing them to be more creative and innovative in order to adapt to deliver quickly.
These predictions mirror the factors which businesses cited as having had the biggest impact on their operations in the past 20 years – chiefly greater access to information (24%) and more online purchasing (22%) changing customer behaviour.
However, firms are optimistic about further changes to consumer behaviour, with 38% reporting that advances in technology have had the biggest positive impact on their business in the past 20 years.
Challenges ahead
Despite a clear drive towards growth, a net balance of 83% of firms anticipate the next 20 years will be more challenging than the past two decades – which included the financial crisis and resulting credit crunch, recession, the Brexit referendum and the global pandemic.
Some of the challenges that businesses see themselves facing can be linked back to the pandemic, including rising costs (23%) and the ability to recruit staff (11%). In addition, one in ten (11%) businesses see the need to keep up with technological developments as their biggest challenge in the next two to three years.
Government provision of greater access to more vocational-based learning was seen by 44% of firms as being a way to help mitigate these challenges. However, companies believe that future growth opportunities will need to be supported by more favourable taxation to encourage sustainable business practices (52%) and new trade agreements with major trading partners (48%).
Paul Gordon, Managing Director for SME and Mid Corporates, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said:“The Business Barometer has provided unique insights into the views of British businesses for 20 years.
“In that time, we have seen a seismic shift in the economic context in the UK, as well as the extraordinary ability of business leaders to adapt and evolve to meet changing market needs.
“Perhaps it is not unsurprising that, having faced a quite unprecedented period of late and enormous change over the last twenty years, the majority of business leaders feel the next twenty years will be more challenging.
“To help them through this, businesses are looking for support on skills, finance, trade and taxation to navigate in this environment. One thing that is clear is that our businesses and business leaders are incredibly resourceful and resilient and are adept at facing into constant change.
“They tell us they are gearing up for growth and expect to increase headcount, enhancing their service offering or utilising new technologies. We’ll be by their side over the months and years ahead as they deliver on their ambitions.”
A real terms reduction in Local Government funding in recent years must be halted to prevent Scotland’s communities and businesses suffering the effects of further cutbacks, COSLA has said.
This year’s Scottish Budget – to be announced next week on December 9 – should also recognise Local Government’s unique role in economic transformation, and must enable meaningful reinvestment in the services that underpin the economy.
Councils have significant spending power and the potential to build local wealth. Every pound spent in a local area – on pay, goods and services, and on capital projects – stays in and strengthens the local economy that enables people to ‘Live Well, Locally’.
COSLA also warns that without adequate funding for Local Government to support economic transformation, issues such as unemployment and child poverty will continue to rise, hitting communities hard and costing the whole system more in the long run.
COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson, Councillor Gail Macgregor, said: “The economic challenges faced across Scotland require a new response – one that is in tune with the needs of local areas and resourced sustainably.
“The Scottish Budget on December 9 presents a perfect opportunity to reset Scottish public spending in a way that empowers councils to achieve their ambition for our communities, creating jobs and sharing prosperity.
“Scotland’s Councils have invaluable local intelligence with local businesses, colleges and universities, about key sectors, local labour markets, and skills/training needs that should be valued and fully utilised to allow our communities to thrive and enable people to ’Live Well Locally’.
“As well as the many great examples we have in our Lobbying document, take somewhere like Dundee where as part of the major development to their waterfront that includes the prestigious V&A Museum, Dundee City Council has used its influence to encourage payment of the living wage by partners and private sector business including its contractors.
“In addition, units that have been created for let are being leased to businesses that are committed to providing the living wage delivering positive and sustainable developments to the local economy.”
COSLA Vice President Councillor Graham Houston added: “Only Councils have the vital local connections across the services that underpin economic transformation we require post-COVID.
“Take something like housing for example – a basic human right. It is not just about throwing up new homes – it’s about building them in a way which helps transform our communities, in a way which is affordable, and in a way which supports our commitments to tackle climate change and to community wealth building.
“There has to be that connectivity that only Local Government can provide. Councils make and shape the places we live in and love and with proper funding form Government would be the real enablers in allowing people to ‘Live Well, Locally.’”
Councillor Alison Evison, COSLA President concluded: “One of the reasons our communities are suffering is that recent years have seen a real terms reduction in Local Government funding overall, so Councils have had to prioritise protected areas like social work and education, over economic development, roads and transport.
“But these are the essential service areas that are critical in attracting investment, developing businesses, and creating jobs – this can create the conditions to lift families out of poverty.
“That is why this year’s Scottish Budget must recognise Local Government’s unique role in economic transformation, and must enable meaningful reinvestment in the services that underpin the economy.”
A former economist has successfully launched a business making a world-first type of secondary glazing to high demand after working with Business Gateway, receiving orders for over 1,000 panes since he began trading at the end of 2020.
Gareth Claase invented and patented ‘Gecko Panes’ and is the founder of Gecko Glazing, a business based in Edinburgh which specialises easy to install secondary glazing which helps home-owners insulate their properties and save on energy costs.
Gareth approached Business Gateway in 2020 after developing his idea for secondary glazing, 10 years after he first recognised there was a gap in the market for a more affordable, sustainable, and less disruptive way to cut heat loss from old windows.
Gareth said, “Most of the options available to upgrade old windows were too expensive, too invasive, or both, which is why I wanted to try and find a better solution. Ultimately, my goal is to help with the problem of greenhouse gas emissions from homes and other buildings, addressing the problem that most existing energy saving measures are disruptive and high-cost.”
Through his product, customers can fit a clear acrylic sheet on an ultra-small profile aluminium frame which fits inside existing window frames, converting single glazing into double glazing and double glazing into triple. Each pane can be installed in minutes, with no tools required. They are up to 90% less costly than conventional double glazing and cut heat loss and emissions by up to 50%. Unlike any other system, they don’t impede or obstruct existing windows.
Gareth made extensive use of Business Gateway as he set about launching his business. This included 1:1 support from a business adviser, help on his business plan and advice about funding, premises, and marketing.
Business Gateway also facilitated several introductions letting Gareth meet experts in their field as he looked to upskill and get to grips with starting his business.
“After many years perfecting my design, I decided to take the plunge and start my own business, but I honestly had no idea what was involved. However, Business Gateway were an invaluable partner and helped me understand all the different aspects involved, ensuring I was able to quickly start trading.
“It’s fair to say that Gecko Glazing might not even be here were it not for their support and advice.”
Gareth was also able to access support through DigitalBoost, Scotland’s national digital upskilling programme delivered by Business Gateway. This included 1:1 support with an expert adviser where he learnt about search engine optimisation, website design and digital marketing. Through this service, Gareth was able to move to a more effective e-commerce platform and implement analytics so he could measure sales and customer engagement.
A specialist marketing consultant provided further extensive 1:1 support, helping Gareth upskill and identify how to market his product effectively.
Gecko Glazing has since gone from strength to strength since it began trading at the end of 2020, and recently received formal accreditation of thermal performance.
He has since won the prestigious Scottish Edge competition for promising early-stage Scottish firms and signed an agreement with a third-party supplier to offer professional installation for customers.
He is now exploring opportunities to scale up his offering through further investment and is hoping to expand into the US market in 2022.
Alison Lynch, Business Gateway adviser, said: “It was fantastic working with Gareth and learning about his unique business which identified a major gap in the market for eco-friendly and cost-effective secondary glazing windows.
“He maximised his time with Business Gateway, and made progress after every session, from devising a branding wheel with strong core values and developing a comprehensive marketing strategy, to fine tune his USP and elevator pitch.
“For anyone looking to start-up on their own, Business Gateway boasts a range of services specifically designed to help you get on your way, giving you the skills and tools required for a successful launch.”
For more information about Business Gateway start-up services, please visit:
We have been working away at securing a place for us to operate a library while we are waiting for our shiny new building and we can finally announce that we will be opening a new Library lending service based in the Edinburgh College Granton Campus, where you will be able to get Borrow Books, Hearing Aid Batteries, NEC Card Applications, Food waste bags, internet access and of course, see our smiley faces again!
Dates for opening have yet to be finalised, but more info on that will follow very soon.
We will also be start delivering activities again in various locations throughout the community.
Bookbug sessions will be the first to resume on 7th September at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
Places will be limited and a booking system will be operating.
Keep an eye out here for more info of other activities.
We are so happy that we will back in the community again after such a long time away and look forward to see you all very soon!
